The appeal of proposed actions to sever service connection for multiple scars, status post excision of skin cancer, and to reduce the assigned disability rating from 100 percent to 30 precent for multiple basal cell carcinomas was dismissed. The appeal of issues for initial higher ratings for hypertension, PTSD, gastroesophageal reflux disorder with diverticulitis, and anemia, and issues for service connection for Parkinson's like symptoms, peripheral neuropathy in the lower and upper extremities, and low back disability were also dismissed.
The deciding factor: The August 2024 and October 2024 rating decisions were only non-final proposed severance and proposed rating reduction and deferred determinations, and they were not appealable decisions as to those matters. The November 2024 VA Form 10182 was received more than one year from the date of mailing of each letter of notification of the August 2021, February 2022, March 2022, and May 2023 rating decisions.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple scars, status post excision of skin cancer, Scar on left shoulder, Scars on left and right scapula, Scars on upper chest and medial breast, Heart disability, to include paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, Lung disability, to include granulomatous disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2025
- Citation
- A25031436
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including an acquired psychiatric disability, headaches, a back disability, heart disability, and residuals of a stroke, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's active service or caused by his service-connected left ear disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for a heart disability, to include ischemic heart disease (IHD), due to an incomplete military personnel record and the need for further development of evidence related to exposure to Agent Orange.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, heart disability, diabetes mellitus, and neuropathy, to obtain additional evidence and a new medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a lung disability and a bilateral foot disability based on new evidence, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, and colon cancer.
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